Family Night Barbecue and Caine Lyric Opera

On Monday we went school clothes shopping in shifts. Sierra and Maci got their turns last week, and Jace and Olivia got their turns today. We started out looking for pants for Jace since he seems to only have 2 pairs of shorts that he wears constantly here. People are going to think he only owns 2 outfits because he wears the same thing all of the time. We found 3 pairs of nice jeans and 2 pairs of shorts at D.I. for 2 and 3 dollars each. I had already purchased some shirts for him the last time I was in Elk Ridge so he is pretty set for school. We bought a couple of things at Walmart and he was done. Boys are so much easier than girls. He just wanted basic t-shirts. The one thing that he was a little picky about was a pair of skinny jeans. He was looking for black and we didn't find any so he is waiting for just the right pair before he buys those. He bought his own tennis shoes because he wanted to spend a fortune on them and was willing to use his own money to get what he wanted instead of what I wanted. They are pretty flashy skate shoes.
Next up was Olivia. She wanted to go to JCPenney because she saw the cute clothes that Sierra got there for school. She wanted to copy Sierra's shirt choices but I only let her copy one. Copying is the nicest form of flattery, but Sierra was not flattered. It was more like annoyed. Olivia likes sparkly and it was hard to let her buy glittery stuff but I did allow one shirt with many sequins and glitter. She was happy. I found all of the girls some cute shirts in the morning and then when I took her shopping, she found a few that were things she liked and feels good about her choices for school. She came home and showed everyone her new clothes. All of the kids are getting excited for school to start and to see their friends again.
For family night we were invited to the Conrad's for a Barbecue. The made sloppy joes and dutch oven Chicken Italiano that was delicious. We took taquitos and cilantro dressing and chips and salsa. A few of the actors and actresses from our apartments were also invited and we played just dance on the wii. After the actors and actresses left, we watched the new Karate Kid down in the Conrad's theater. It was really late when we got home and into bed. Maci was a nightmare at their house, not happy about much that was going on. She didn't want to eat anything but junk for dinner but wanted dessert so I had to insist that she eat dinner or no treats. She threw a temper tantrum during the movie so I made her sit in the truck and cry so we could hear the movie. I distracted her from crying by asking her if she wanted to come with me to walk Coco the dog around the block. She jumped at the chance because she loves Coco and ran practically the whole way around the block until we came to a huge St. Bernard that came running after us. I had to pick up Coco, yell at the St. Bernard to go home, and calm Maci all at the same time. Maci is a lot of work in case you haven't gathered that. I get advice from well-meaning friends and family all of the time on how to raise Maci but I've tried most of the suggestions I'm given and have decided that she is just her own person. I try to be patient with her, but sometimes she gets the best of me. I love the little dear and hope that in the end she will feel that she is loved and that I won't squash her spirit too much.
Today we took it easy in the morning, slept in and had breakfast at 11:00. I guess everyone was tired from all the activities on Monday. We did a little laundry, made quiche for dinner with some Ciabatta bread we bought at Crumb Brother's Bakery, Jace went to a play at the Lyric Theater to watch, "See How They Run" with Owen and the kids had their last art class with Janet and Owen Rouse (her 14 year old son) and learned how to do origami.

Janet does the artwork on the chalkboards at Crumb Brothers and she did the big front board in honor of Jace because she recently went and saw Oliver. She drew a boy holding out his hands and asking, "Please sir, I want some more". She also advertised on the board for UFOMT so that was a good plug for the company. Olivia also went to activity day at the church and got some hand-me-down clothes from Hayley Morrill, which she liked. We played several games of Egyptian Rat Killer but I never won. I'm just learning but slowly I'm getting better.
I forgot to mention that LeAnn came by today and hung out for 40 minutes. She has been having trouble with a tooth in her mouth since the beginning of summer and today the dentist tried to remove it but had a very difficult time. She was in the dentist chair for 2 hours. She had to go back a little later and didn't want to drive all the way home so she came over for a visit. While she was here, MaciLeAnn who was sitting on the couch. The biggest glob landed right in LeAnn's hair and she was such a good sport about it that she had all of us laughing our heads off.